Monthly Archives: June 2010

Waiting on Wednesday – June 30

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The Book of Peach

August 3, 2010 (Penguin Group, USA)

From Goodreads: For fans of Fannie Flagg – the acclaimed author of Heartbreak Cafe delivers a heartwarming, hilarious new novel.

Twenty-three years ago, beauty queen Peach Rondell left Mississippi and vowed never to return. Now she’s back, divorced and heartbroken, trying to figure out how her life went so terribly wrong. To escape her mama’s scrutinizing gaze, she spends her days in a little storefront diner called the Heartbreak Cafe, where, in the back booth, she scribbles away in her journal, waiting for enlightenment. Instead, Peach gets something even better: the unexpected friendship of an unlikely group of folks who show Peach that finding out where you’re going usually means embracing where you’re from.

at Breaking the Spine

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Where The River Runs by Patti Callahan Henry

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Where the River Runs

Back of the book:  Meridy Dresden was once a free-spirited, fun-loving girl. All that changed when the boy she loved was killed in a tragic fire. Since then, she alone has carried the burden of a terrible secret. Years later, married to a wonderful man and mother of a teenage son, she is shocked to learn that a childhood friend is being blamed for that long-ago fire. Fearful but determined, Meridy returns to the South Carolina Lowcountry and summons the courage to make a decision that may destroy her well-ordered life, her family’s reputation, her contented marriage, and everything she’s worked so hard to protect… including her heart.

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I was pulled into Patti Callahan Henry’s touching novel from the first page.  Meridy Dresden has reached a point in her life where she is known among her husband’s friends as “perfect Meridy” – the perfect wife, mother, friend.  The problem is she feels like a fraud.  Ever since the tragic night where life changed forever she has tried to be good.  Her husband knows nothing about her life before they met; her son is grown and ready to leave for college; and her best friend was just divorced by Meridy’s husband’s boss.  Things are happening that are out of her control.

Meridy goes home to South Carolina to write a curriculum of the Gullah culture for her local school.  Repressed memories return that force her to face the past. With the help of Tulu, her family’s former housekeeper, she learns how to come to grips with what happened twenty-five years earlier – the night of the tragic fire.  Tulu teaches her the meaning of Gullah proverbs which leads to finding the truth in her past and helps her to understand what is important going forward.

I really liked this novel.  It was easy for me to relate to Meridy in a few ways.  I enjoyed the story, the characters, and the lessons learned. Where The River Runs is the second book I’ve read by Patti Callahan Henry and I look forward to reading more.

A Quick Giveaway (US)

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~ CLOSED ~

Somehow I ended up with an extra copy of Still the One by Robin Wells so I’d like to host a quick giveaway to my US readers (Sorry, it’s at my expense so I have to limit to the US).

  • Just leave your name in the comment and check back on Thursday to see who random.org selected to win.
  • Giveaway ends Wednesday, June 30 at 9pm (eastern)

Still the One

Robin Wells takes us back to Chartreuse, Louisiana, for a deeply moving story of forgiveness and second chances.

STILL THE ONE

After Katie Charmaine’s husband is killed in Iraq, all she has left is a closet full of his clothes, a few pictures, and fond memories. She not only lost her love, but her last chance to have the children she’s always wanted. Until Zack Ferguson shows up in town . . . with the daughter Katie gave up for adoption nearly seventeen years ago.

Zack Ferguson has never forgotten Katie, or the one magical night they spent together. Seeing her again brings up a tidal wave of emotions: regret over the way he left her, anger at the secret she kept, and desire he hasn’t felt in years. But he’s in town for Gracie. Their daughter is sixteen, angry at the world, and-worst of all-pregnant. She needs the love of her two parents now more than ever. Can these three forgive the hurts of the past and open their hearts to each other?

Waiting on Wednesday – June 23

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at Breaking The Spine


The Tower, The Zoo, and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart

Pub. date: Sept. 7, 2010 by Doubleday

Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo by Julia Stuart

Synopsis found at Goodreads (not my review):

Brimming with charm and whimsy, this exquisite novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie.

Balthazar Jones has lived in the Tower of London with his loving wife, Hebe, and his 120-year-old pet tortoise for the past eight years. That’s right, he is a Beefeater (they really do live there). It’s no easy job living and working in the tourist attraction in present-day London.

Among the eccentric characters who call the Tower’s maze of ancient buildings and spiral staircases home are the Tower’s Rack & Ruin barmaid, Ruby Dore, who just found out she’s pregnant; portly Valerie Jennings, who is falling for ticket inspector Arthur Catnip; the lifelong bachelor Reverend Septimus Drew, who secretly pens a series of principled erot ica; and the philandering Ravenmaster, aiming to avenge the death of one of his insufferable ravens.

When Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interest ing. Penguins escape, giraffes are stolen, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent people running for their lives. Balthazar is in charge and things are not exactly running smoothly. Then Hebe decides to leave him and his beloved tortoise “runs” away.

Filled with the humor and heart that calls to mind the delight ful novels of Alexander McCall Smith, and the charm and beauty of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is a magical, wholly origi nal novel whose irresistible characters will stay with you long after you turn the stunning last page.

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Secret Keepers by Mindy Friddle

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Emma Hanley is about to go on a trip of a lifetime.  She’s waited her whole life to see the world.  And then the unexpected happens.  As a result, Emma starts to make decisions on her own and refuses to back down.  This impacts Emma’s family and they are not pleased.

One day a man from the past knocks on Emma’s door.  Jake was her daughter Nora’s first boyfriend and now he’d like to tend Emma’s yard.  Jake runs a lawn service that employs people who seem to be down on their luck.  Eventually he hires Emma’s son and grandson.  Bobby (son) is a bit of a savant but also struggles with schizophrenia that seemed to grow worse after the death of his brother in Viet Nam.  Kyle (grandson) is fourteen and is feeling frustrated living under his parents’ careful watch.  In a small way, working for Jake opens up a new world to them.

Jake soon finds his lawn service in demand all around the small town of Palmetto. One of his workers starts to plant an amazing flower in all the gardens they work on. People are thrilled with the resulting blooms and the effect they have when smelled. A specialist is called upon to explain the what and why about this magical flower. He turns out to be a man that can teach Emma about  more  than just the flower. He can help her discover secrets about herself she hadn’t faced in the past thereby allowing her to find a wonderful future.

There is so much more to this quiet novel.  I really liked the atmospheric story of people who thought life may have passed them by.   It’s a hopeful story that would be a good book club selection.  Discussion questions are provided.

Review copy from Picador/St. Martin’s Press via LibraryThing Early Reviewers

In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday – June 20/21

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at The Story Siren

at The Printed Page

Mothers Day Romance Book Set  won at Mama’s Money Savers:

Ravished By A Highlander by Paula Quinn

Montana Destiny by R.C. Ryan

Knight of Passion by Margaret Mallory

To Surrender to a Rogue by Cara Elliott

Still The One by Robin Wells

Desire Me by Robyn DeHart

and a surprise book:

Healing Back Pain by John E. Sarno M.D.

Thank you Forever Books/Hachette Book Group

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From the author:

Simply from Scratch

Simply From Scratch (ARC) by Alicia Bessette